Holding sheet for a pool cover assembly

ABSTRACT

A holding sheet for a pool cover assembly having a cover sheet and a flotation member is disclosed. The cover sheet has an underside and a central portion. The inflatable flotation member is secured to the underside at the central portion of the cover sheet with the holding sheet via an adhesive material. The holding sheet has multiple ends and multiple adhesive strips mounted on the ends at a same side of the holding sheet to form a pocket in which a flotation member is remained centrally under a cover sheet of the pool cover assembly. Accordingly, The flotation member can be held and mounted at a center of the underside of the cover sheet easily and conveniently.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a holding sheet, and more particularly to a holding sheet for a pool cover assembly to hold a flotation member at a center of a cover sheet easily and conveniently.

2. Description of Related Art

A pool cover can cover a pool to mount over the pool water, is secured around the perimeter of the pool via wire winching device, and has a float positioned centrally on the pool water via ropes or wires.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,843 to Pirillo discloses a removable flotation device attached a pool cover with retaining grommets and cords. U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,083 to Kingston discloses a flotation device attached securely to a pool cover by heat sealing process, but a typical cover owner does not own a heat sealing equipment. U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,627 to Cammarata discloses a quick attachment of components, such as a pillow to other components, such as a towel with hook and loop type fasteners. However, the hook and loop type fasteners should be mounted previously on specific locations on the combined components, so a component, such as a pillow with one of the hook and loop type fasteners cannot be attached to a component, such as a cover sheet without or having a different type or location of hook and loop type fastener.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide a holding sheet for a pool cover assembly to hold a flotation member at a center of a cover sheet easily and conveniently. The holding sheet has multiple ends and multiple adhesive strips mounted on the ends at a same side of the holding sheet to form a pocket in which a flotation member is remained centrally under a cover sheet of the pool cover assembly.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a pool cover assembly with a first embodiment of a holding sheet in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the inflatable flotation member and the holding sheet in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged operational side view in partial section of the pool cover assembly in FIG. 1 being mounted on a pool;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of an inflatable flotation member with a second embodiment of a holding sheet in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged operational side view in partial section of a pool cover assembly with the inflatable flotation and the holding sheet in FIG. 4 being mounted on a pool;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of an inflatable flotation member with the holding sheet in FIG. 2 showing that the holding sheet is adapted for holding an inflatable flotation of different shape; and

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of an inflatable flotation member with the holding sheet in FIG. 4 showing that the holding sheet is adapted for holding an inflatable flotation of different shape.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a pool cover assembly comprises a cover sheet 10, an inflatable flotation member 20 and a holding sheet 30 in accordance with the present invention.

The cover sheet 10 is adapted to mount and cover on a pool surface of a pool, may be round, square, rectangular or in any possible shape and has an underside 11 and a central portion.

The inflatable flotation member 20 is secured to the underside 11 at the central portion of the cover sheet 10 with the holding sheet 30 forming a pocket via an adhesive material. In the first embodiment, the inflatable flotation member 20 is an inflatable pillow having a square shape.

The holding sheet 30 in accordance with the present invention is crisscross in shape and has four ends to form a pocket in which the flotation member 20 is remained centrally on the cover sheet 10. The adhesive material comprises multiple permanent adhesive strips 32 mounted respectively on the ends at a same side of the holding sheet 30. Additionally, the opposite side of the holding sheet 30 is free of adhesive. Alternatively, a round inflatable flotation member 20B can also be held by the crisscross holding sheet 30 as shown in FIG. 6.

To assemble the pool cover assembly, the underside 11 of the cover sheet 10 is exposed firstly. The inflatable flotation member 20 is then inflated and is located at the central segment on the underside 11 of the cover sheet 10. The holding sheet 30 is attached to and mounted around the inflatable flotation member 20 to hold the inflatable flotation member 20 between the underside 11 of the cover sheet 10 and the holding sheet 30. The protective paper strips of the adhesive strip 32 are removed from the adhesive strips 32 on the holding sheet 30 and the holding sheet 30 can be securely connected to the underside 11 of the cover sheet 10 with the adhesive strips 32. Accordingly, the inflatable flotation member 20 can be secured to the underside 11 of the cover sheet 10 in the pocket subsequently formed with the holding sheet 30.

Consequently, with further reference to FIG. 3, the cover sheet 10 with the inflated flotation member 20 can be drawn over the pool surface of a pool, and the inflated flotation member 20 that is held on the central segment of the underside 11 of the cover sheet 30 floats on the pool surface of the pool. With the central arrangement of the flotation member 20, a less dense area of an ice formation can be formed centrally such that the ice pressure against the walls of the pool can be reduced by allowing the forming ice to crack inwardly. Accordingly, the shell or structure, such as the pool wall of the pool can be prevented from being damaged. In addition, the flotation member 20 held by the holding sheet 30 can keep the cover sheet 10 from over stretching to a point of tearing or coming undone, and the centrally located inflated flotation member 20 can shed water to edges of the pool for easier removal.

When the pool cover assembly is not in use, the flotation member 20 can be deflated and removed from the cover sheet 10 and the holding sheet 30. Accordingly, the deflated flotation member 20 and the sheets 10,30 can be stored compactly.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the second embodiment of the inflatable flotation member 20A in accordance with the present invention is an inflatable pillow having a rectangular shape.

The holding sheet 30A comprises an elongated lateral segment 34 and two longitudinal segments 36 connected to and may be perpendicular to the lateral segment 34 to form multiple ends on the holding sheet 30A. The adhesive material comprises multiple permanent adhesive strips 32A mounted respectively on the ends at a same side of the holding sheet 30A. Accordingly, the flotation member 20A can be securely to a cover sheet 10A of a different shape or size to make the pool cover assembly being applied to different pools of sizes or shapes and being versatile in use. Alternatively, an oval inflatable flotation member 20C can also be held by the elongated holding sheet 30A as shown in FIG. 7.

With the above description, the pool cover assembly in accordance with the present invention has the following advantages.

1. The flotation member 20,20A can be securely retained at central location on the cover sheet 10,10A with the holding sheet 30,30A to make the inflated flotation member 20,20A functioning as it being designed.

2. To secure the inflated flotation member 20,20A is simplified, especially when a pool is surrounded by a deck, the need to a crawl under deck to tie off the inflated flotation member 20,20A can be eliminated.

3. To mount the pool cover assembly onto and to detach the pool cover assembly from a pool is easy and convenient by a single person.

4. The pool cover assembly is reusable and the holding sheet 30,30A usually remains intact for life of the pool cover assembly.

5. The holding sheet 30,30A is retofit-able to the existing pool cover sheet 10,10A so the holding sheet 30,30A in accordance with the present invention is convenient and affordable.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A holding sheet for a pool cover assembly comprising: multiple ends; and multiple adhesive strips mounted on the ends at a same side of the holding sheet to form a pocket in which a flotation member is remained centrally under a cover sheet of the pool cover assembly.
 2. The holding sheet as claimed in claim 1, wherein the holding sheet is crisscross in shape and has four ends.
 3. The pool cover assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the holding sheet comprises an elongated lateral segment and two longitudinal segments connected to the lateral segment to form multiple ends on the holding sheet.
 4. A pool cover assembly comprising: a cover sheet having an underside and a central portion; and an inflatable flotation member secured to the underside at the central portion of the cover sheet with a holding sheet via an adhesive material, wherein the holding sheet has multiple ends; and the adhesive material comprises multiple adhesive strips mounted on the ends at a side of the holding sheet to form a pocket in which the flotation member is remained centrally on the cover sheet.
 5. The pool cover assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein the holding sheet is crisscross in shape and has four ends.
 6. The pool cover assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the inflatable flotation member is an inflatable pillow having a square shape.
 7. The pool cover assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the inflatable flotation member is an inflatable pillow having a round shape.
 8. The pool cover assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein the holding sheet comprises an elongated lateral segment and two longitudinal segments connected to the lateral segment to form multiple ends on the holding sheet.
 9. The pool cover assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein the longitudinal segments are perpendicular to the lateral segment.
 10. The pool cover assembly as claimed in claim 9, wherein the inflatable flotation member is an inflatable pillow having a rectangular shape.
 11. The pool cover assembly as claimed in claim 9, wherein the inflatable flotation member is an inflatable pillow having an oval shape.
 12. The pool cover assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein the inflatable flotation member is an inflatable pillow having a rectangular shape.
 13. The pool cover assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein the inflatable flotation member is an inflatable pillow having an oval shape. 